Clinton School student Valerie Hendrix has spent the last six months working as a consumer advocate with an Arkansas agency responsible for implementing a new statewide electronic medical records system.
For her final project in the school’s Master of Public Service (MPS) degree program, Hendrix has worked for the Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT), which was established to provide leadership for the development and implementation of a statewide health information exchange in Arkansas.
This would allow health care providers and hospitals to electronically exchange health information in a secure environment.
Hendrix’s role with OHIT was to create informational documents to share with consumers, health care providers, insurance companies and policymakers about the benefits of the exchange. She also helped inform state legislators about the background and importance of the exchange.
She also worked with Clinton School graduate Lindsey Clark (’09) to establish a Consumer Advisory Committee, a group of 12 consumer advocate leaders from all around the state to represent consumer voices to the agency.
“It was such an educational and interesting opportunity,” Hendrix said. “I learned about so many benefits to using technology in healthcare and I really hope consumers embrace this change. I know OHIT will continue their efforts to ensure Arkansans are represented.”
A native of Antoine, Ark., Hendrix will graduate from the Clinton School in May. During her two years in the program she has also worked on nonprofit advocacy with the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence and traveled to Dominica to work with the country’s Ministry for Community Development and Gender Affairs.